The Reality Behind America’s Crime Spike

By Rhiannon Meyers Collette, Communications Manager
 

Birth control is extraordinarily popular. The pill was first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1960. In the six decades since, the proportion of women participating in the workforce has climbed to 56%, and contraception has been credited for one-third of wage gains for women during the same time period. Ninety percent of American women report using birth control at some point in their lives.
 

Yet, for millions of women, accessing high-quality contraception remains a challenge: 19 million U.S. women live in contraceptive deserts — areas without a health center that offers a full range of contraceptive options — and 1 in 3 Black and Latino women are not using the birth control they want. 

What’s Happening: “Recent years have brought new challenges, including funding restrictions on full spectrum health care providers like Planned Parenthood,” Laura Arnold, our co-founder and co-chair, says in the latest episode of her podcast, “Deep Dive with Laura Arnold.” “The consequence: dramatically restricted access to preventive health care like contraceptives for millions of low-income people. But there's hope on the horizon and promising ideas for closing the gap in reproductive access.”

Dive Deeper: Arnold sits down with three women who are leading efforts to expand access to contraception: Dr. Raegan McDonald Mosley CEO of Power to Decide, the campaign to prevent unplanned pregnancy; Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women's Law Center; and Jessica Sanders, a researcher and advocate working in Utah to elevate family planning and drive contraceptive access. They discuss the barriers to giving women true choice and the policies that could help close the gap in contraceptive equity.
 

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By Evan Mintz, Communications Manager

The National Press Foundation hosted a panel this week about the spike in homicide during the COVID-19 pandemic. The three experts — Thomas Abt, the director of the National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice; Alex Piquero, a professor and chair of sociology at the University of Miami; and Fatima Loren Dreier, the executive director of Health Alliance for Violence Intervention — discussed the causes behind the ongoing crime trends and policies that lawmakers can use to fight crime.
 

Why It Matters: The increase in homicide rates has resurrected “tough on crime” political rhetoric that had been largely muted since the 1990s. A special congressional election in New Mexico was marked by fear-mongering ads about criminal justice reform. The New York City mayoral race is dominated by conversations about crime. And polls show voters are now more concerned about violent crime than COVID-19. Reporters have a responsibility to put crime trends in a proper context. This means talking about causes and policy responses in a manner informed by data and evidence, and humanizing the people involved. 
 

What’s Next: The Biden administration is proposing a $5 billion investment in crime reduction strategies while local governments like Los Angeles begin to fund new interventions aimed at reducing violent crime. These plans take time to reap their full benefits, but once in place have a record of successfully saving lives.   

By Evan Mintz, Communications Manager

This week, Arnold Ventures, the National Association of Counties and three pilot sites published our findings and recommendations after a multi-year pilot Data-Driven Justice initiative. The pilot sites used data and community coordination to better align resources to respond to people with complex health and social needs, particularly those who are frequent utilizers of justice, health, and human services systems. 

What’s Happening: Counties invest more than $93 billion in justice and public safety each year, including $22 billion to operate jails. However, frequent utilizers' conditions — such as mental health issues or living without a home — are often made worse if they’re arrested and incarcerated. This just leads to costly recurring interactions with emergency medical services, law enforcement, and other services. Better tracking and coordination between local agencies can help keep people out of jails and get them the support they need.

What’s Next: The DDJ sites have demonstrated that communities have the ability to share data between agencies, leading to a better outcome for all involved. But the work does not stop there — communities must advocate for state funding for pre-arrest diversion and remove legislative obstacles to enacting new policies aimed at reducing incarceration. When given agency and political backing, these are programs that can be replicated in cities and counties around the country.

Reagan Cooper wasn't sure she was ready for a four-year college experience. Now, she's headed to an on-time graduation. Hers is a success story thanks to an innovative set of individualized programs at the University of North Carolina System that is delivering measurable results for students.
 

Why It Matters: Too many student-advising programs make promises but fail to produce evidence that they actually work. Success Labs, a strategy being implemented across the UNC system, is doubling down on on-time graduation through summer programs like the Aggie Success Academy at A&T State that Cooper attended. Each participating campus chooses the area it believes will most benefit its students, and they are proving that this approach can help more students finish college.
 

What's Next: Success Labs' data-driven lessons may be quite timely: President Biden's proposed American Families Plan includes a $62 billion investment in evidence-based student success practices. It "would be transformative," says AV’s Chase Sackett.

James Dold, CEO and founder of Human Rights for Kids. Last month, the Supreme Court issued a ruling in Jones v. Mississippi that took a step backward for juvenile justice: The court declined to impose new restrictions on the ability of states to sentence juveniles to life without parole. We spoke with Dold about the Supreme Court’s decision and the path forward for defending the rights of children in the legal system. “Every major social movement always begins with children. This is why everyone doing criminal justice reform work has a vested interest in reforming the way the system treats children.”
 

Read the Q&A >

I’ve started “Equal” On HBO Max, an in-depth, four-part documentary series that pays homage to the early pioneers of the LGBTQIA+ Rights Movement. Narrated by Billy Porter and packed with archival footage, interviews, and stellar re-enactments from underused queer Hollywood talent, “Equal” provides a history lesson you might not know you needed — one that starts long before the Stonewall riots of June 1969. The first episode examines the dangerous environment faced by gay Americans, including policing tactics like entrapment that led to prison sentences anywhere from 15 years to life and public exposure campaigns that caused the loss of jobs and families. This reality spawned an underground network of support and activism, including The Mattachine Society, founded in 1950 by Harry Hay, and The Daughters of Bilitis, founded by Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin in 1955. Episode two introduces transgender pioneers, including Lucy Hicks Anderson, a Prohibition-era socialite and entrepreneur. Read more from The Queer Review.

The Oil and Gas Startups Podcast from Digital Wildcatters featuring our Co-Founder and Co-Chair John Arnold. This is heavy on natural gas talk (with some bitcoin thrown in), but he also discusses the impetus behind Arnold Ventures’ work to improve systems in criminal justice, health care, higher education, and democracy.

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